I just enjoyed a wonderful evening of music at the beautiful Chan Centre here in Vancouver. Jon Hassell along with his current band, Maarifa Street (featuring among others, Peter Freeman and J. A. Deane) finished their tour in support of his new ECM release. Opening the show was Tunisian musician Dhafer Youssef.Youssef's virtuoso oud and inspired vocals were accompanied by piano, acoustic bass and the the amazing drumming of Satoshi Takeishi, a mixture of Jack DeJohnette and Glen Velez. A Beautifully intense set with stunning vocal performances and intricate rhythmic interplay. Jon Hassell's performance was a gorgeous tapestry of deep dreamtime melodies from he and his violinist backed by the harmonically rich, sometimes glitchy sonic stylings gently pushed along by minimal percussive suggestions and dub bass lines. One portion of the music sounded a bit like Hassell's narcotic trumpet was playing over a Steve Roach atmosphere. Very, very sensual music to say the least. I look forward to the ECM release, which comes 25 years after his last recording for that label, the milestone, "Power Spot".Peace, Kirk

I have been listening to some of Saul Stokes music on my iPod during my morning walks in anticipation of the release of "Villa Galaxia". As I was scrolling through the selections I came across 3 forgotten pieces that were part of the "Vast" remix project. Pete Kelly "remixed" "Chrome Garden"", Masse/Memoire did "Lighthaus" and APK as TCR produced "Adrift", although I don't recall what Stokes piece he referenced. They are all wonderful! I was wondering whatever became of this project. Saul was supposed to have circulated several discs with his files on them for interested parties but these three pieces are the only ones that seemed to have surfaced. There is no mention of the project on Saul's website and all previous Hypnos Forum discussion was lost in the "Big Crash" way back when. Anybody have anything to share? Peace, Kirk